HONG KONG — The two Hong Kong protesters were dressed head to toe in black, their faces covered in masks. This was no scene from the protest violence last year over Beijing’s dominance of Hong Kong’s affairs. This was on Sunday, and the firebombing was incited by anger over the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China — and plans by the Hong Kong government to use the unoccupied housing block as a quarantine area. Angst and anger fueled by the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 100 people on the mainland and has eight confirmed cases in Hong Kong, is compounding the bitterness from months of protests against Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s leadership. The prospect of a new avenue for criticism of Hong Kong’s government, as well as lingering trauma from the SARS epidemic that killed nearly 300 people here in 2003, has sent Mrs. Lam’s administration scrambling.

Source: New York Times January 28, 2020 09:06 UTC